Quote Sheet: Fire vs. Crew

“Yeah, obviously another great win for our team. Being here at home there’s a fantastic atmosphere tonight from our fans. And I thought we had a very good start to the game. We made a mistake, we gave up the goal, but I gave so much credit to the team. You know, we never panicked, we kept playing the same way and we scored two very nice goals. We had some opportunities in the second half to put the game away and I think in the end it was a little bit difficult because as a tendency when you’re up we dropped a little bit off and then they played everything in the box. Lot of long balls, which is our strength. But in the end I thought it was a great win, lot of credit to the guys.”

On his confidence in the offense...

“We create opportunities in matches with the players that we have. I think there are times where we have more of a killer instinct in our mentality when we get in certain spots. I think this is something we work on in the final third in training and we got to keep doing it. So obviously it’s something we need to work on and we got to keep working. But yeah, I have confidence in the group. I’ve always had confidence in the group. We keep things tight. I feel that as a team we will get chances and we’ve been putting chances. Chris scored some great goals, world class goals. The second one was just amazing, turning and putting the ball upper ninety was real class. We had some other good opportunities but now just from a defensive stand point we have to get better as a unit. I think the attitude of the guys and the work rate has been very good. We made it difficult for them. We really didn’t think they had much but I think as games now get fewer and fewer we need to keep getting better defending and know that we are going to create opportunities. I thought the game today was a transition and that was the key for us, just be good in transition in both phases.”
On if he said anything to Sean about the goal…

“You know what? The thing is you can see the reaction from the guys. In games you’re going to make mistakes and now it’s like the next play, how do you react from them? And I thought he was positive. He made some big saves in the end. He made a couple big saves and I thought he responded well. In the game you’re going to make mistakes. I think the important thing is how you react to them and you learn from them. I think as a group we felt like there was a lot of game left to be played. Look, everyone is going to make mistakes and I think that the team was very positive. I was too. We just have to move on, knowing there’s a lot of game left to be played. So I thought that Sean responded very well and made some key saves in the end.”

On Pardo…

“We’ll see. His calf has been bothering him. We tried to push him yesterday and he came off and didn’t feel good. So we got to see day to day.”

On the pressure of facing Kansas City next week…

“We know it’s a big game, all these games are. We’re excited that there’s so much on the line with every game. I think that’s the exciting part. We didn’t have this in the past and I think the players are excited for sure. The pressure is how you deal with it and I think we’ve dealt well. We’ve prepared well and I think that’s what gives players confidence on the field which is very important. And look, we’re playing the first place team. They’re a very good team so it should be a good challenge for us and it’s not going to get easier. We’re a much improved team. Tthey are also so it’ll be a good challenge for us in a difficult place against a very good team. But again, we look very much forward to it.”

On the Crew…

“It’s a rivalry. It was important for us to not drop points at home. It’s a team that’s just like us that’s fighting to make the playoffs so these games are very important when we’re playing at home. It was important not to drop points and to get the win. So with matches like this the rivalry has been there. The exciting part is that we were at home and there’s a lot on the line with every game. I think the players thrive on that.”

Chris Rolfe, Chicago Fire forward

On coming back after conceding the first goal:

“It’s something we’ve done a lot this year. We seem to start the game off well, give up a goal and then have to respond to that. It’s something we’re going to have to fix, but it’s still a good thing that we’re able to come back. “

On creating more chances:

“This is what we’ve been talking about – as the season draws to a close and we’re in the playoffs - we’re not going to have eight, nine or 10 chances like we’ve been creating in the last couple games so hopefully tonight was an eye opener for the whole team that it’s going to be tougher now that it’s the end of the season and the playoffs are ahead. We won’t get the same number of chances, so we have to be good with our finishes.”

On his second goal:

“Patrick [Nyarko], again, did a good job creating it. He’s done a great job for us this year; this time he came down the side pulling attention away from me and Sherjill [MacDonald] and he happened to find my feet. I took a good first touch and had a pretty good finish.”

Patrick Nyarko, Chicago Fire midfielder

On the comeback:

“I think we’ve found our groove over the past few weeks. Going down a goal doesn’t phase us, we know we can create chances. Frank [Klopas] keeps telling us the most important thing in these situations is stay compact and not give anything away because we know with the ability we have we’re going to create chances. It was unfortunate we went down 1-0, but it shows the character of the team to stay patient and comeback and see the game out.”

Arne Friedrich, Chicago Fire defender

On the result:

“We gave up the first goal of the game, but we came back well. In my eyes, the shape of the team was fantastic today, we scored two very nice goals and are happy with the result.”

On his offensive play:

“For me the important thing is that we don’t give up goals. It was a little unlucky how we gave up the goal, but the most important thing is the character of the team. There were games this season that we went down a goal and we came back fantastic – same as today – and this is what counts. Now we push forward because next week is a big game on Friday. We’re having a good run so I hope that going.”

Sean Johnson, Chicago Fire goalkeeper
On his performance after giving up the goal:

“I always just try and do my best. You get upset with yourself when you give a pass out of the back, especially when it results in a goal. You want to be safe with your decisions, but going forward you just have to do your best to keep your team in the game and that’s what I was called upon to do at the time. Once again, I was just trying to keep my team in the game and give us a chance to get three points at home.”

On the team’s ability to comeback after going a goal down:

“We have a strong mentality and belief in ourselves. We talk about it before the games and in the huddle that we believe we’re coming away with three points every game. In the first half, after the goal I gave away, or other things happened we knew that we needed to keep grinding, and we always have each other’s back which I think is important. When we go down it’s important to stay together – we’re a close group on and off the field which also helps - everyone plays for each other. Everyone did a fantastic job tonight getting ahead, after going one behind, securing a victory.”

Columbus Crew Head Coach Robert Warzycha

On his initial impression on how the match played out:

“I think that we played a good game today. I think we were definitely the better team. We could have scored a couple goals in the second half, but [Johnson] made some big saves. And one time we knocked ourselves off the ball. Overall I think we played a very good game. Too bad we had to give up two goals in such a short period of time.”

On what happened in that span of two minutes where Chicago scored two goals:

“It’s difficult [to say], to be honest to you. It seems that we got disconnected a little bit and we didn’t kick it around for the other, and then we had a one on one with Rolfe against the goalkeeper and he finished it. “

On asking his forwards to pressure Johnson:

“No, no, he’s experienced enough. He’s a National Team goalkeeper. He’s doing something right. I don’t ask them to do that. That’s just Jairo. The ball was going to his left foot and he thought maybe he was going to take an unnecessary touch and it resulted in a goal.”

On Emilio Renteria stepping in for Duka:

“I thought Emilio tried really hard. I don’t think we got him the ball as often as he likes and we need, but I think he’s effective when he has the ball at his feet and when he runs at people. He was good for 60 minutes. We were trying to change the game and get some fresh legs on the field. “

On whether he thought he could get 90 minutes from Gaven:

“I thought we were going to get 90 from Eddie, but he got kicked again tonight, so he was a little slower in the second half. Having Justin [Meram] on the bench was nice and we wanted to use his speed and get something done in the second half.”

Columbus Crew Midfielder Milovan Mirosevic

On whether he echoes how the coach felt about feeling the Crew were better tonight:

“I can’t speak about us, but I think of course we were sad and frustrated because it is impossible to be happy when you lose. But I think if there is a way of losing happy, we should be, because we were so close to tie the game against one of the best teams in our conference. Today, apart from the result, of course that wasn’t good; there are more positive things to be happy about, for sure.”
On whether he can explain the two Fire goals scored in a short period of time:

“It’s difficult for me as well. There were two fast plays. I will have to re-watch it on television. I will have to see what happens. For sure it wasn’t the best moment for us. Two goals in, I don’t know, a few minutes. It was difficult to recover from that. Either way I think we had our chances, we put the pressure where we have to, all the time. I think our team felt too comfortable in that way. “

On the team feeling positive regarding playoff hopes:

“It’s still depending on us. I think if we play like today, we will be closer to playoffs, even if we didn’t win today. For sure it isn’t a good result. This isn’t a good sensation but I think today we proved we can play against a really good team.”
On what the team needs to do to preserve an early lead:

“I don’t know. More concentration for 15 more minutes; we have to realize to make it more difficult for them. Like you said, last few games away, we have to get early goals and keep the lead. It’s not a good thing for us.”

Columbus Crew Forward Jairo Arrieta
On his goal:

“Well, the idea was to pressure as a team. We did that. We pressured the goalkeeper, and he took a bad touch. I won the ball, and beat the goalkeeper and scored. But unfortunately it didn’t help our cause today because we lost. We have four games left to make the playoffs and we have to approach each game one at a time and win them all. We have to score the goals to make the playoffs.”
On what the team needs to do better to preserve the lead:

“It’s the second time that’s happened. We need to do a better job on keeping the lead on the game. They tied the game and got the lead in too quickly, so it’s a mental issue. We have to work on that. We have to learn from our mistakes and tried to avoid that in the future. Not waste those leads so we can make it to the next round.”